org.openqa.selenium.WebDriverException: There is not enough space on the disk error using Selenium and WebDriver through Java

Question

I am running the TESTNG test in Maven setup . While i am running the testng , I am getting the following exception:

Note: Checked the dependency and there is no error in pom.xml

org.openqa.selenium.WebDriverException: There is not enough space on the disk
Command duration or timeout: 914 milliseconds
Build info: version: '3.14.0', revision: 'aacccce0', time: '2018-08-02T20:19:58.91Z'

Answer 1

This error message...

org.openqa.selenium.WebDriverException: There is not enough space on the disk 
Command duration or timeout: 914 milliseconds 
Build info: version: '3.14.0', revision: 'aacccce0', time: '2018-08-02T20:19:58.91Z'

...implies that the WebDriver instance was unable to initiate/spawn a new WebBrowser session as there was not enough space.

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If you take a closer look at the GeckoDriver startup logs you can observe the creation of rust_mozprofile as follows:

1566480787996   mozrunner::runner   INFO    Running command: "C:\\Program Files\\Mozilla Firefox\\firefox.exe" "-marionette" "-foreground" "-no-remote" "-profile" "C:\\Users\\Debanjan.B\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\rust_mozprofile.7diW2pWdtxN9"

This log clearly indicates that a new profile i.e. C:\\Users\\Debanjan.B\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\rust_mozprofile.7diW2pWdtxN9 is scoped out for Marionette everytime GeckoDriver initiates a new Firefox web browsing session. On a successful quit() this temporary rust_mozprofile gets deleted.

You can find a couple of relevant discussions in:

• Is it Firefox or Geckodriver, which creates “rust_mozprofile” directory

• Selenium : How to stop geckodriver process impacting PC memory, without calling driver.quit()?

If you weren't invoking quit() there is a possibility of ..\AppData\Local\Temp directory may get filled up with stale rust_mozprofiles.

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Solution

An ideal solution would be to:

• Always invoke driver.quit() within tearDown(){} method to close & destroy the WebDriver and Web Client instances gracefully. You can find a relevant discussion in:
  • PhantomJS web driver stays in memory
• (WindowsOS only) Use CCleaner tool to wipe off all the OS chores before and after the execution of your Test Suite.
• (LinuxOS only) Free Up and Release the Unused/Cached Memory in Ubuntu/Linux Mint before and after the execution of your Test Suite.

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Additional Notes

The error ...there is not enough space on the disk... may not necessary be caused by running out of storage capacity apparently as it seems but can also happen due to running out of i-nodes on the filesystem.

You can find a detailed documentation in No space left on device – running out of Inodes

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Outro

WebDriver is not deleting the profile directory after test exits